Gold-saving amalgamator.



E. P. MAYHEW. GOLD SAVING AMALGAMATOR. APPLICATION man JULY 13. 1915.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.-

EARL r. MAYHEWLOF sen DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.

GOLD-SAVING AMALGAIVIATOB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917,

Application filed July 13, 1916. Serial No. 109,118.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL P. MAYHEW, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at San Diego, in thecounty of San Diego and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gold-Saving Amalgamators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gold saving amalgamators and it has for its object the provision of an amalgamator of the mercury type in which the gold bearing sand, gravel and water may be continuously passed through a pipe and in its passage forced through a number of bodies of mercury, together with means whereby the bodies of mercury with the trap fed gold may be withdrawn at any time without interfering with the continuous operation of the apparatus.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed de scription which now follows.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of an amalgamator or gold saving device constructed in accordance with the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view therethrough upon line 22 of Fig. 1, with some of the parts broken away.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing 5 designates a serpentine pipe the coils of which are disposed in a vertical plane. It will, therefore, be seen that this pipe comprises a plurality of goose-necks. The lower bends of these goose-necks form pockets 6 adapted to receive bodies of mercury indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. When gold bearing sand, gravel and water are forced through the pipe 5 and through the several bodies of mercury, the fine gold particles are trapped and held by the mercury in the pockets 6.

While I have shown three of these pockets, it is apparent that any desired number may be employed. To render it possible to introduce mercury or to remove the mercury and gold from said pockets without interfering with the continuous operation of the device, each of the downwardly extending goose-necks is intersected by vertically disposed piping, eachcomprising a cross 7, a shut-off valve 8 disposed above the cross, a receiving chamber 9 above the shut-off valve 8, a shut-off valve 10 above the receiving chamber and a funnel 11 above the shut-off valve 10. Below the cross 7 there is a shutoff valve'12 and below the shut-off valve 12, there is a storage chamber 13, the latter carrying a shut-off valve 141 and a discharge nozzle 15. When it is desired to introduce mercury to any of the pockets 6 without interfering with the remainder of the pipe 5 or with the continuous operation of the mercury in any of the other of said pockets 6, the shut-ofi' valve 8 controlling the pocket that is to be filled is closed and the shut-0 E valve 10 is opened. Mercury may then be poured through the funnel 11 into the receiving chamber 9. Then the shut-off valve 10 is closed and the shut-ofi valve 8 is opened, which permits the mercury to flow from the receiving chamber 9 into the pockets 6. When the mercury in the pockets 6 has been in use long enough to render it desirable to remove the gold therefrom, shutoff valve 12 is opened and, at the same time, shut-off valve 14 is closed. This permits the mercury to flow into the storage chamber 13. Thereupon shut-off valve 12 is closed and if the shut-off valve 11 be then opened the mercury may be withdrawn through nozzle 15 without permitting any of the water,

sand or gravel to pass into the chamber 13 or to pass from the nozzle 15.

It will also be seen that by virtue of the construction herein shown, the mercury may be employed at a plurality of points in a common pipe to trap the gold and that the mercury may be introduced into any of these points or withdrawn from said points without interfering with the action of the mercury in any of the other points.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth for various changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention without. departure from the scope of the appended claim.

Having described my invention what I claim is An amalgamator made up of a plurality of goose-neck sections connected end to end at their lowest portion by crosses, shut-01f the upper ends of the first named pipe secvalves connected to the upper and lower outlets of said crosses, pipe sections projecting upwardly *from the uppermost of said valves; pipe sections projecting downwardly from the lowermost of said valves,

shut-oil valves at the lower ends of the last named'pipe sections and shut-off valves at t1ons. 1 0

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EARL P. MAYHEW. Witnesses:

CHARLES RIEVELEY,

J. C. HIzAR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

7 7 Washington, D. C. 

